


The Fading Light

by safeandwarm



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Child Abuse, Kid Fic, M/M, Romance, single parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-27
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-12 23:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/safeandwarm/pseuds/safeandwarm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Jackson is a single father who recently moved into his parent’s beach house and Isaac is the local veterinarian who treats Jackson’s dog after he gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It's Memorial Day weekend--every avenue of the small beach town clogged with people and cars--when he goes to set up the house. The furniture is covered in heavy plastic tarp, and he'd been worried about how the dust would upset Thomas's sensitive baby nose, so he is staying with Jackson's parents until the house is ready for his arrival. It had been years since Jackson had been here, since at least high school, and everything is different. 

Or he is different. 

Perhaps both. 

It takes the better part of the morning to uncover the furniture, sweep, and vacuum, and by then he is sweaty and hungry. As loathe as he is to venture out into the tourist-filled streets, he hadn't packed food, so he grabs Zoe's leash and takes her down the boardwalk, following the smell of grease and caramel and sea salt. 

They say scent is one of the most powerful ways for sensory recall, and the smell of this place makes him feel young and powerful, like when he was fifteen and he and Danny had stayed at the house alone for three weeks over summer break while his parents were in Hawaii having a second honeymoon. They had stayed up all night playing video games, only crashing when the yellow light of dawn greeted them. They would wake up in the early afternoon and walk to Melvin's, buying up a half dozen cheeseburgers between them. 

He idly wonders if Melvin's is still there. 

Jackson stops at a hot dog vendor--the first place he sees for food --and buys three, two for himself and one for Zoe. She scarfs it down before happily settling at Jackson's feet, while he leans against the wooden railing and stares out over at the beach, at the happy families and the college kids, and he hopes this is the right decision. He hopes that this place will be a good home for him and his son.

 

By the first weekend of June the house has been scrubbed, painted, and has finally reached Jackson's approval for Thomas, though work had been delayed because he couldn't spend more than a couple of days without his son without going stir-crazy or calling every five minutes. Still, it's finally ready. 

Zoe walks around the house like she owns it, following Jackson as he gives the tour to a baby. She gets bored and settles on the leather couch in the living room while Jackson carries Thomas upstairs to his nursery. It took hours for him to decide on the exact shade of sea foam green and even longer standing in Babies"R"Us trying to pick out a crib to match.

He sets Thomas's car seat down on the plush rug, before picking him up and holding him close. He'd been fussy for much of the three hour drive, and Jackson really wanted an extra set of hands, so that someone could comfort him. It was one of the rare times he wished that Thomas's mother was around. But she's not. 

And there's no use crying over someone who didn't want to be a part of their lives. 

Her loss.

The first few days in the house are strange, but eventually they fall into a rhythm. Thomas wakes up with the sun, and the sound of cooing from the baby monitor will wake him up. They'll go downstairs and have breakfast--coffee and a protein shake for him and whatever their food of the week is. They're working on introducing solid food into Thomas's diet. So far bananas and pears are the clear winner. After breakfast they all go for a run, play for an hour or so in the living room; then they go up to the upstairs office. Lunch time. Nap time for Thomas, and then Jackson actually starts getting some work done. Dinner time. An hour or two of TV. Then bed.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

At least until the morning that Zoe gets away from him on the morning jog, tugging her leash hard and Jackson is forced to choose between running after her into the street or staying with his son. It doesn't happen in slow motion, not at all. The car is coming so quickly and Zoe freezes in the street. 

Jackson is shaking when they take her into the vet clinic, she's whining and won't let anyone else near her, so they have to sedate her. Thomas gets fussy in the clinic, the kink in routine bugging him. It's play time now, but Jackson doesn't feel like playing, so he holds Thomas close and settles into the hard plastic chair.

It takes forty-five minutes before he gets any word from the vet. He's younger than Dr. Deaton, the other vet he remembers being here, the one who gave Zoe her shots when she was just a pup. He's young, around Jackson's age. Just a boy with curly hair and sweet-looking eyes.

"Mr. Whittemore?" Jackson stands up, his body stiff. "She broke her hind left leg, but she's okay. We put her in a cast, and she's still on sedatives, but you can see her."

He follows the doc back into a small room, Thomas wrapped in one arm, his car seat in the other hand. Zoe is stretched out on a table, a black cast surrounding her leg. Jackson drops the car seat, reaching out to pet Zoe's head. She huffs and presses her nose against his hand. His staring is interrupted by the doc's soft voice. 

"We have records for Zoe going back a while."

"I've had her since I was sixteen," Jackson replies. He knows she is getting old, that he'll lose her soon. He just hadn't been prepared to lose her today. 

She'd been a present from his mom's parents on his birthday. They missed the puppy memo when he was kid, but the year he wanted a Porsche, they gave him a golden lab. She'd been his constant companion since then; he'd taken her to Berkeley with him, to Seattle when he ran away after sophomore year and then back to California when he realized he'd never be able to run far enough to escape his parent's disappointment.

"Don't worry, Mr. Whittemore," the doc says, "we'll take good care of her."

 

Isaac Lahey is the name of the vet, at least according to the sign out front. He and a Scott McCall have taken over the practice since Deaton retired a few years back. Lahey is the one he talks to when he brings Zoe in for her check-ups. She is a moody bitch the entire time it takes for her leg to heal.

But he's good with her. 

Zoe is his dog, through and through, a spoiled little brat, but she likes Lahey. When he finally cuts off her cast, she jumps on him, extending to her full height, and licks the bottom of his chin. And he just laughs, like it's the best thing that's ever happened to him.

And Jackson can't hide his smile as he tries to call Zoe to sit. 

 

At the end of July, Jackson is still looking for a nanny to come over for a few hours during the day to help with Thomas. As much fun as it has been to just lounge around with him, Jackson isn't getting any work done, and his parents have only promised a year without rent for the beach house, so he really needs to get his ass in gear. 

He holds interviews with the only three candidates who seem even remotely qualified and ends up choosing Allison Argent, a pretty girl with dark hair and dimples. And maybe in another life she would have been someone he'd go after, but right now he's just looking for someone to watch his son so that he can work in his dark room and maybe drive out to the cove and get pictures or take a day trip to the abandoned amusement park a few hours away. 

She starts work on a Tuesday morning, and Jackson hovers for the rest of the week before he finally feels confident enough in her skills to go up to the dark room and develop some prints that he's never gotten around to. He scans them to his computer and watermarks them, before posting them to his website. 

 

It's weird having time without Thomas right next to him, and he almost doesn't know what to do with himself. He goes out and gets groceries and does wedding photos for a few couples who get married on the beach near his house and his morning runs are just him and Zoe now that he leg is healed, and she takes full advantage of that. 

He's out getting groceries when his mom calls, and he almost doesn't answer, but he is living on their generosity--as mush as he hates it--so he gives in. "How are you doing, Jackson? We haven't heard from you in weeks." He had sent his parents a Facebook message saying that he and Thomas were both alive. And they'd replied with information on grad school.

"It's fine. I hired a nanny, and I've gotten a few local jobs."

"It's not too late to take the LSATs. You could be at Stanford by January."

He sighs audibly into the phone. This was a very old argument, and he was sure it would never stop. "Thomas is rolling over. He's trying to crawl, but he hasn't gotten there yet. And we're going to going to work on finger foods with him this week."

Not that they care. 

His parents had been against him taking over full parental rights of Thomas, but it was something they were going to have to live with, because Jackson wasn't going to give him up. He would never do that to his baby. He never wanted his son to ever feel unwanted by him, not the way he so constantly felt growing up. 

"That's wonderful, dear." 

"I have to go, mom. I'll talk to you later," he says as he steers his cart into the cereal aisle and runs straight into another. Jackson puts his phone in his pocket and starts apologizing. "Sorry, Dr. Lahey."

Lahey smiles and says, "Isaac."

"Well, sorry, Isaac." He steers his cart out of the way and grabs two boxes of Cheerios for Thomas and an oat and rice blend for himself. 

He barely registers that Isaac is still looking at him when he says, "How's Zoe, Mr. Whittemore?"

"Jackson. And she's great. Never better. Thank you for patching her up."

"Of course."

 

After that he sees Isaac everywhere. He takes Thomas out on the boardwalk, and there he is. On his and Zoe's morning run, they see Isaac opening up the vet clinic. At the grocery store. And at the beach. And at Melvin's when he takes Thomas to get his first cheeseburger, even though Thomas ate softened Cheerios while Jackson ate the cheeseburger. 

At Melvin's, Isaac is at a huge booth in the corner that is packed with way more bodies than it is meant to hold. And he's at the center of it, looking slightly reserved amid the chaos and cacophony of overlapping voices. But when he looks up and meets Jackson's eyes, he smiles almost shyly and waves.

Jackson goes back to his hamburger and tries to ignore the group. He's never had a group of friends like that. Sure, he had Danny who put up with him despite Jackson being a complete douche bag for their entire friendship. 

He felt utterly alone, even with (or perhaps because of) Thomas sitting next to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Thomas wakes up early on a Wednesday morning in early August and babbles to himself until Jackson can’t ignore it anymore. Jackson had hoped that he’d wear himself out and go back to sleep, but that hope was in vain.

Jackson takes him out to the sun porch and watches Thomas crawl around and play while Jackson sips coffee and the sun slowly rises, painting the sky in harsh reds and oranges before fading into a clear blue sky. He feels peaceful here, comfortable. This house, which had its share of good and bad memories, has finally become his home. He doesn’t look at the kitchen and see the time that his father yelled at him for two hours when he got drunk at some lame beach party. Thomas’s room doesn’t hold memories of crying in his pillow the night he kissed a guy for the first time and freaked out by how right it felt, as right as any time he kissed a girl.

He’s determined to let all the bad dissipate and replace it with only happy things. His son will take his first steps here, speak his first words. And Jackson will move forward with his life.

Allison finds them on the sun porch playing peek-a-boo.

She smiles that open, dimpled smile, her brown eyes lighting up. Jackson plays for a few minutes longer, lingering. As helpful as Allison is, he doesn’t want Thomas raised by a nanny. He wants his son to remember them playing at the park and learning to ride his bike and bed time stories. He wants to be the one to raise his kid.

Finally, when he’s already stayed past the time he usually has his morning run, he kisses Thomas’s cheeks, spread wide in a smile, and hands him to Allison. Upstairs, Jackson uploads the photos from his latest wedding, and does minor edits to them.

He’s not getting rich off of wedding photography, but at least he has some source of income. And he must be doing a decent job, because this is the fifth wedding he’s gotten through referral. He’d had to pay Allison double to watch Thomas while he was gone, because they were all on Saturdays, but it was worth it. Jackson had his own money in his own bank account, and soon he wouldn’t be dependent on his parents for anything. He’d find them a new place, a small apartment if he had to. It would definitely be a downgrade, but it would be his.

**

Zoe is acting funny, moving less and being generally unfriendly. Jackson shrugs it off for a while. But by the end of an entire week of her whining and barely moving at all, even to get food and water, he’s worried. He loads her up in his SUV, while she yips and pushes her nose under his armpit.

He holds her in his lap while they sit in the waiting room at the vet’s office even though she is huge and heavy. When Zoe was just a puppy—despite his parent’s protests—she used to sleep on his chest or his legs. It was like she couldn’t sleep if she wasn’t near him. He went to lacrosse camp a few months after he got her, and he worried the entire time he was gone, but was too stubborn and embarrassed to call his parents and ask them how his dog was doing, especially because he knew they would get mad, wonder why he wasn’t asking how they were doing. When he got home from camp, she ran up to him, alternating between nipping at his ankles and trying to jump into his arms.

She is ten, and easily his longest lasting relationship. Danny doesn’t count. Danny is a stubborn ass who refuses to let Jackson ditch him, not that he’d ever want to.

It’s Lahey, it’s Isaac, again, who sees her, asking Jackson questions while checking Zoe’s heartbeat and manipulating her limbs. “I want to run some tests to be sure, but it looks like she’s in the beginning stages of osteoarthritis.”

“What kinds of tests?”

“An x-ray and anthrocentesis to start. Anthrocentesis is just testing the fluid in her joints.”

Jackson nodded stiffly. “Is there a treatment?”

Isaac smiles at him and pets Zoe’s head. “If the tests show signs of osteoarthritis, we can give her something for the pain and possibly a glucosamine, depending on the state of her cartilage fluid. Physical therapy is also an option. Her weight and muscle mass are both in the healthy range, so she shouldn’t need to change her diet.” He pauses and meets Jackson’s eyes. “She’ll be back running with you in no time.”

Jackson lets out a breath in relief. “It sounds dumb and clichéd, but she’s my best friend,” he says quietly, looking anywhere but at the doc.

“I’ll take care of her,” Isaac replies just as quietly. After a few seconds of silence, he clears his throat and says, “I’m going to keep her overnight for tests and to give her some pain medicine, but you can come pick her up tomorrow afternoon.” Jackson nods, thanking him, and leaves Zoe in Isaac’s care.

**

Allison and Thomas come with him to the vet’s office the next day to pick up Zoe. Allison smiles at a dark-haired man and he smiles back, goofily, like someone ridiculously in love. “Jackson, this is my fiancé Scott. Scott, this is Jackson and Thomas.”

Scott. McCall. The other vet. Is dating his nanny.

How small is this town?

“Oh my god, he’s so cute,” Scott says, smiling at Thomas. “Can I hold him?” As he says it, Isaac comes out of a room and gestures at him to follow.

“Sure. I’ll be right back.” Allison hands Thomas to Scott, and Jackson hears coos and babbling as he walks into the room where Zoe is sleeping on the table, her legs sticking out far enough to hang over the edge of the table. She’s always been such a bed hog. She also kicks in her sleep, which meant that Jackson had been nearly exiled from his own bed a hundred times since he got her.

Isaac petted her behind her ears, and Zoe’s leg twitched. “The joint fluid test showed that she does have osteoarthritis. I have her on a steroid and a medicine to help with the pain. It may be a while before she’s back to her old self, but she’s fine. You can take her home.”

“Thank you,” Jackson replies, and pats Zoe’s flank. “Wake up, brat. It’s time to go home.” She lifts her head, staring at him in annoyance, and then puts it back on the table, which makes Isaac burst out laughing. It’s a good look on him.

His body loses the tension that he always seems to carry, becoming looser and more open. And his blue eyes shine. He looks beautiful like this. And Jackson finds himself wishing for his camera so he can capture this moment, can capture this Isaac, and keep it forever.

Isaac stops laughing quickly, his eyes darting to the floor, like he’s embarrassed, but then he meets Jackson’s eye again. “Do you need some help getting her to your car?”

“Can she walk without hurting herself?” Isaac nods. “Then she’s going to get her lazy ass up and walk to the car.” He says that, but Zoe is much more stubborn than he is and refuses to get up, so Jackson rolls his eyes and picks her up off the table, cradling her in his arms. He’s forever thankful that even after he quit lacrosse he maintained his workouts.

Isaac follows him into the waiting room where Scott is still babbling at Thomas. “Can you put him in his car seat? He’s running late for his nap.”

He hears, “Come on, little man,” as Isaac opens the front door for him. Isaac follows them and opens the door for the SUV too so that he can slip Zoe inside. Allison and Scott come up behind him, and she connects the seat in the car.

“We’re having a barbecue tonight. You should come,” Scott says, with that easy smile of his, and Jackson wonders if the guy has another expression. He seems so stupidly, blindly happy.

Jackson shrugs. “Can’t. I don’t have anyone to watch Thomas.”

Scott just shakes his head. “Bring him. Lydia just got herself knocked up, and she can use all the practice she can get.” Allison shoots him a look, a cross between amusement and a glare. “What? It’s true.”

Allison gently places her hand on his arm. “Please come tonight. The group’s a little much, but it’ll be fun. And we’d love for you to be there.” When she wants to, Allison can be very persuasive, unflinching until she gets what she wants. And with her face all wide-eyed and hopeful like that, he doesn’t want to disappoint her. He mumbles out an acquiescence, and she smiles wide. “Isaac will be there too, won’t you? You don’t have to bring anything. Just yourself. And Thomas, of course. Let me give you the address.”

And Jackson worries about what he’s gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a lot of background pairings in this, but Jackson/Isaac is the main pairing. I'll add the other pairings to the tags as they become relevant.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off this Tumblr post: http://heavenwasblue.tumblr.com/post/30210174447/isaac-x-jackson-au-where-jackson-is-a-single


End file.
